Excavating the role of NPEs in the innovation process: Did we start a mission possible?

The past decades have seen the rise of so-called Non-Producing/Practicing Entities (NPEs). NPEs do not use patents for appropriating own R&D investments necessary for developing technologies embedded in own products or services but solely focus on exploiting, enforcing or monetising patents. One might suspect that this behaviour impacts the innovation processes of firms and technological developments in different industrial sectors. Interviews with a panel of experts from a European country reveal most notably that the emergence of NPEs has changed the awareness of firms’ management towards patents and the way of managing them. The results also indicate that the contemporary situation is still diffuse and immature, so that their full impact is difficult to understand, even from an interpretivists’ perspective.This research was supported by a Small Research Grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE at http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICMIT.2014.694241

The Role of Patents in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). A survey of the Literature.

During the last decades, the number of ICT related patents has increased considerably. In association with a great fragmentation in IP rights, the increasing number of patents has generated a series of potentially problematic consequences. Patent thickets, royalty stacking, the emergence of patent assertion entities, increased patent litigation \u2013 in particular around standard essential patents \u2013 and the difficulties in the definition of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms are among the most debated issues in the literature that we review in this paper. We devote a specific section of our survey to patents involving software products, where the above problems are amplified by the high level of abstraction of computer algorithms. In our analysis we mix theoretical and empirical arguments with a more policy-oriented reasoning. This allows us to better position the different issues in the relevant political and economic context

THE ROLE OF PATENTS IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTS). A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE.

During the last decades, the number of ICT related patents has increased considerably. In association with a great fragmentation in IP rights, the increasing number of patents has generated a series of potentially problematic consequences. Patent thickets, royalty stacking, the emergence of patent assertion entities, increased patent litigation \u2013 in particular around standard essential patents \u2013 and the difficulties in the definition of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms are among the most debated issues in the literature that we review in this paper. We devote a specific section of our survey to patents involving software products, where the above problems are amplified by the high level of abstraction of computer algorithms. In our analysis we mix theoretical and empirical arguments with a more policy-oriented reasoning. This allows us to better position the different issues in the relevant political and economic context

CIFRA: Challenging the ICT Patent Framework for Responsible Innovation. D2.1: Literature Review

The European Commission. CIFRA: Challenging the ICT Patent Framework for Responsible Innovation. Grant Agreement No.731940. Research and Innovation Action. Call: H2020-ICT-35-201

Disclosure rules and declared essential patents

Many standard setting organizations (SSOs) require participants to disclose patents that might be infringed by implementing a proposed standard, and commit to license their “essential” patents on terms that are fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND). Data from SSO intellectual property disclosures have been used in academic studies to provide a window into the standard setting process, and in legal proceedings to assess the relative contribution of different parties to a standard. We describe the disclosure process, discuss the link between SSO rules and patent-holder incentives, and analyze disclosure practices using a novel dataset constructed from the disclosure archives of thirteen major SSOs. Our empirical results suggest that subtle differences in SSO policies influence which patents are disclosed, the terms of licensing commitments, and ultimately long-run citation and litigation rates for the underlying patents. Thus, while policy debates sometimes characterize SSOs as a relatively homogeneous set of institutions, our results point in the opposite direction – towards the importance of recognizing heterogeneity in SSO policies and practices

Technical Standards, Standards-Setting Organizations and Intellectual Property: A Survey of the Literature (with an Emphasis on Empirical Approaches)

Important theoretical work relating to standards has been done in the areas of SSO dynamics, firm behavior, market effects of patents, and royalty pricing. This work has been supplemented by a significant body of research and empirical data on the acquisition and disclosure of patents within SSOs, particularly in the ICT sector. Several important catalogs and analyses of SSO patent policies now exist, together with rich databases of SSO membership and policy data. Despite this large body of literature, there are numerous areas at the confluence of intellectual property and standardization that warrant further investigation. These include: the influence and internal organization of consortia and other informal standards groups; the prevalence and market impact of de jure and de facto royalty-free standards; the effect of patents on standardization in growing fields outside of ICT including clean technology, medical devices and automotive infrastructure; the interaction of technology standards with open source software; the impact of product certification and certification marks on technology products and markets; and the institutional, legal and policy landscape of standardization outside of North America and Europe, particularly in China and other Asian economies. In addition, more public data is needed regarding patent licensing and royalty rates for standardized technologies. The data that currently exists is gleaned largely from public sources such as litigation records, government licenses and public securities filings. This data, however, represents only the tip of the iceberg. The largest and most meaningful accumulation of data concerning patent licensing is locked within the files of private firms, subject to strict confidentiality restrictions, and beyond the reach of researchers, policy makers, enforcement agencies and courts. Greater public access to this data has the potential to lower licensing transaction costs, reduce the number of disputes regarding FRAND royalty rates, improve the accuracy of judicial damages determinations, inform agency enforcement decisions, and improve policy making. As such, it is in the interest of all participants in the standardization ecosystem to contribute to the growing public data resources in this important area of economic activity

Intellectual Property and Innovation in Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

2noThe aim of this study is to provide a structured review of the role of IPR in fostering innovation and economic growth in the European ICT sector. Typically IPR analysis of industries focuses on patents. In practice, however, IPR strategies are developed combining the use of different IP rights. The scope of analysis considers this and looks at the joint use of patents, trademarks and industrial designs, each protecting a different type of knowledge-based asset. Based on these characteristics, the focus of the research is to provide an overview of the mechanisms typically employed in order to appropriate the returns from R&D investments. For each formal IPR, we briefly review the main contributions to the economic literature, both theoretical and empirical, on the rationale for its existence and the effects it generates on firms’ behaviour and market outcomes. We then highlight the most important emerging issues. In the final section of the study, we focus on the software industry.reservedmixedStefano, Comino; Fabio M. ManentiComino, Stefano; Fabio M., Manent